Libraries, Linguistics and Artificial Intelligence: J. C. R. Licklider and the Libraries of the Future

In 1965, J. C. R. Licklider published a book regarding the “Libraries of the future”. This book was soon almost forgotten when a different paradigm of computing, partially created by Licklider himself, became dominant. However, a re-reading of the book, in hindsight, not only gives a glimpse of a seminal moment in the history human interaction with computers but allows a chance to see in a different light many issues still relevant to the field.In 1965, J. C. R. Licklider published a book regarding the “Libraries of the future”. This book was soon almost forgotten when a different paradigm of computing, partially created by Licklider himself, became dominant. However, a re-reading of the book, in hindsight, not only gives a glimpse of a seminal moment in the history human interaction with computers but allows a chance to see in a different light many issues still relevant to the field

The role of YTHDF1 and YTHDF3 in normal and malignant haematopoiesis

Epitranscriptomics is the field of research that investigates the role of post-transcriptional mRNA modifications and the function of their regulating machinery in a wide range of biological contexts. The best characterised modification is N6-Methyladenosine (m6A), placed by the writer complex METTL3-METTL14, removed by ALKBH5 and FTO and recognised by reader molecules including the YTHDF family of proteins. Within haematopoiesis and leukaemia research, the reader YTHDF2, responsible for the decay of mRNA molecules labelled with m6A, has recently emerged as a promising candidate for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) whose inhibition does not derail haematopoiesis in the short term. However, its application in the clinic is impaired by lack of knowledge about the function of related proteins YTHDF1 and YTHDF3, as well as potential mutual interactions. Here, I show that YTHDF1 and YTHDF3 are dispensable for steady-state haematopoiesis and are not required to maintain haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) reconstitution capacity following primary and secondary transplantation. Moreover, deletion of Ythdf1 prolongs the activation state of HSCs following haematopoietic injury by delaying the resolution of inflammatory states, accelerating their recovery following chemotherapy in a time-limited response. To explain its expression in the system, I uncover a role in long-term control of HSC expansion during ageing or upon multiple stimulation to preserve their differentiation capacity and avoid exhaustion. At the same time, inhibition of YTHDF1 impairs AML maintenance by promoting the differentiation of leukemic stem cells, showing a synergistic effect with YTHDF2 inhibition likely due to the contextual activation of pro-apoptotic signalling pathways downstream of TNFR2. These results highlight the potential benefits of YTHDF1 inhibition for patients undergoing chemotherapy and establish a base for the use of broad spectrum YTHDF family inhibitors for the treatment of AML, while easing concerns regarding their short-term toxicity

Alfabetizzazione digitale, scrittura enciclopedica ed educazione linguistica democratica

The text describes two different kinds of literacy: the traditional and the digital one. It then places them in a context of “Linguistic education” (educazione linguistica), highlighting the possible benefits of a more significant inclusion of real practices within the educational curricula. This is done by looking at both “vernacular literacy” practices and practices taken from the workplace. The use of Wikipedia in the Italian language classroom is afterwards introduced as an example of such possible integrations

Le discussioni di Wikipedia

Il contributo prende in esame le discussioni condotte all’interno di Wikipedia in lingua italiana. Queste discussioni, pubbliche, frequenti e condotte in spazi dedicati, sono uno strumento centrale per la vita della comunità che gestisce l’enciclopedia online; la loro presenza è anzi spesso considerata essenziale per la vita stessa del sito, caratterizzato da un’elevata conflittualità. Nel contributo, le modalità di discussione sono esaminate dal punto di vista tecnico e da quello delle regole esplicite di Wikipedia per la gestione degli accordi e dei disaccordi. Le discussioni sono inoltre collocate nel contesto ampio dei meccanismi di interazione e controllo all’interno della comunità, in particolare in rapporto all’obiettivo di formazione di un consenso. Il contributo descrive infine le caratteristiche linguistiche di base degli interventi, che, pur essendo di regola di registro informale e brillante, sono spesso scritti in modo molto articolato e vicino alla prosa letteraria tradizionale. L’assieme di questi tratti distingue nettamente le discussioni di Wikipedia da quelle normali sulle reti sociali e in molti spazi online. The paper examines the discussions within Wikipedia in Italian. These discussions, public, frequent and carried on in specific spaces, are a central tool for the life of the community that manages the online encyclopedia; indeed, their presence is often considered essential for the very survival of the site, characterized by a high level of conflict. In the paper, the modes of discussion are examined both from a technical point of view and from the perspective of the explicit Wikipedia rules for the management of agreements and disagreements. The discussions are also placed in the broader context of the mechanisms of interaction and control within the community, particularly in relation to the explicit objective of consensus building. Finally, the paper describes the basic linguistic features of the interventions, which, while usually informal and brilliant, often include cases of very articulate and literary writing. Overall, these characteristics clearly distinguish the Wikipedia discussions from the typical discussions on social networks and in many online spaces

VARIAZIONE LINGUISTICA NEI COMMENTI SU FACEBOOK

I commenti su Facebook hanno un ruolo importante nella comunicazione contemporanea in Italia, ma non sembra possibile ricondurli a una specifica varietà di lingua e le loro caratteristiche linguistiche sono difficili da definire. Il contributo descrive alcune di queste caratteristiche sulla base dell’analisi di diversi corpora recenti di commenti, per una dimensione complessiva di 650.000 token. I parametri esaminati sono: l’appartenenza a sottogeneri testuali; la presenza di lingue diverse dall’italiano; i valori delle statistiche linguistiche di base; la frequenza di diversi tratti linguistici. Questi ultimi sono stati scelti tra i tratti comunemente descritti come innovativi e sono ben testimoniati nella comunicazione professionale o semiprofessionale; risultano però molto rari all’interno dei commenti. Nell’assieme, l’analisi conferma che i commenti, accanto ad alcuni caratteri condivisi, presentano un alto livello di variazione. Tale variazione, a sua volta, sembra collegata più alla presenza di singoli partecipanti con abilità di scrittura diverse che a una capacità dei partecipanti stessi di adattare la propria scrittura a contesti diversi. Language change in Facebook commentsComments on Facebook play an important role in contemporary communication in Italy, but it does not seem possible to link them to a specific variety of language and their linguistic features are difficult to define. The paper describes some of these features drawing from the analysis of a few corpora of recent comments, for a total size of 650,000 tokens. The parameters examined are the pertinence to textual subgenres, the presence of languages other than Italian, the values of basic linguistic statistics and the frequency of different linguistic features. The latter have been chosen among the features commonly described as innovative and are well documented in professional or semi-professional communication; however, they are very rare among the comments. In the whole, the analysis does confirm that the comments share some linguistic features but have also a high level of variation. Such variation, in turn, seems to be linked more to the presence of individual participants with different writing skills than to the ability of the participants themselves to shape their writing according to the different contexts

Valutazione umana di DeepL a livello di frase per le traduzioni di testi specialistici dall'inglese verso l'italiano

Il contributo presenta una valutazione delle prestazioni di DeepL nella traduzione di testi specialistici dall’inglese all’italiano. La valutazione è stata condotta a livello di frase, su un campione di 108 frasi tratte da testi relativi ad ambiente, energia, biomedicina e discipline del farmaco, e le traduzioni prodotte sono state valutate da traduttori in formazione dotati di competenze disciplinari. La traduzione di DeepL ha ottenuto una valutazione statisticamente pari a quella della traduzione umana per quanto riguarda l’adeguatezza e leggermente inferiore per quanto riguarda la scorrevolezza. La traduzione automatica dei testi ha inoltre ricevuto un punteggio superiore a quello ottenuto, con modalità simili, dalla traduzione automatica di testi giornalistici.The paper presents an evaluation of the performance of DeepL in the translation of specialized texts from English to Italian. The evaluation was carried out at sentence level, on a sample of 108 sentences taken from texts relating to the environment, energy, biomedicine and drug science, and the translations pro-duced were evaluated by translators in training, with disciplinary skills. The translation by DeepL was statistically rated at the same level of human translation in terms of adequacy and slightly lower in terms of fluency. Machine translation of the texts also received a higher score than that obtained in another analysis, carried out in a similar way, by machine translation of journalistic texts

L'italiano di Wikipedia e la didattica della scrittura

Wikipedia in lingua italiana è un sito web di notevole importanza per il mondo della scuola e dell’università, oltre che per la comunicazione in generale. Tuttavia, le sue caratteristiche linguistiche sono state relativamente poco studiate. Il contributo descrive alcuni tratti generali delle voci di Wikipedia, affiancando l’esame di un campione di testi concreti alla descrizione dei criteri esplicitati nel Manuale di stile interno. Questi criteri vengono poi confrontati con la tradizione di studi italiana sulla semplificazione linguistica, mostrando una sostanziale compatibilità. Nel contributo sono inoltre presentate diverse possibilità di impiego di Wikipedia per la didattica della scrittura a vari livelli, in rapporto con le caratteristiche dei testi reali. The Italian Wikipedia website is widely used in schools and universities, as well as for communication in general. However, the linguistic features of the site have received only limited attention. The present contribution describes some general features of Wikipedia entries, pairing the examination of a sample of concrete texts with the description of the criteria explained in the internal Manuale di stile. These criteria are then compared with the tradition of Italian studies on linguistic simplification, showing a substantial compatibility. The present contribution also describes various possible ways to use Wikipedia for the teaching of writing at various levels, in relation to the features of real texts

Drosophila Dendritic Arborisation Neurons: Fantastic Actin Dynamics and Where to Find Them.

Neuronal dendrites receive, integrate, and process numerous inputs and therefore serve as the neuron's "antennae". Dendrites display extreme morphological diversity across different neuronal classes to match the neuron's specific functional requirements. Understanding how this structural diversity is specified is therefore important for shedding light on information processing in the healthy and diseased nervous system. Popular models for in vivo studies of dendrite differentiation are the four classes of dendritic arborization (c1da-c4da) neurons of Drosophila larvae with their class-specific dendritic morphologies. Using da neurons, a combination of live-cell imaging and computational approaches have delivered information on the distinct phases and the time course of dendrite development from embryonic stages to the fully developed dendritic tree. With these data, we can start approaching the basic logic behind differential dendrite development. A major role in the definition of neuron-type specific morphologies is played by dynamic actin-rich processes and the regulation of their properties. This review presents the differences in the growth programs leading to morphologically different dendritic trees, with a focus on the key role of actin modulatory proteins. In addition, we summarize requirements and technological progress towards the visualization and manipulation of such actin regulators in vivo

Alfabetizzazione digitale, scrittura enciclopedica ed educazione linguistica democratica

The text describes two different kinds of literacy: the traditional and the digital one. It then places them in a context of “Linguistic education” (educazione linguistica), highlighting the possible benefits of a more significant inclusion of real practices within the educational curricula. This is done by looking at both “vernacular literacy” practices and practices taken from the workplace. The use of Wikipedia in the Italian language classroom is afterwards introduced as an example of such possible integrations